Many pieces of equipment utilize one or more functional fluids in their operation, for example an engine utilizes engine oil. Draining and replacing these functional fluids is part of the normal maintenance of such equipment. Changing such functional fluids at appropriate intervals helps to ensure the proper operation of the equipment involved as well as avoiding damage and the need for costly repairs and equipment down-time.
Often, the manufacturer of a piece of equipment recommends a change interval for a functional fluid the piece of equipment uses. Such change intervals may be based on hours of operation, absolute time, mileage and/or distance traveled by the piece of equipment such as a vehicle, number of times the equipment has been used, or similar information. The operator of the piece of equipment then decides when to change the functional fluid involved, generally following the manufacture's suggestion. The manufacture's suggestion often does not taken into account and/or cannot be adjusted to account for the operating conditions the piece of equipment is actually experiencing. Thus using the manufacture's suggested change interval often results in fluids being changed too soon or too late than what would be possible and/or optimal.
Changing functional fluids is expensive, not only due to the cost of the fluid itself (and sometimes disposal costs of the spent fluid) but also due to the labor costs involved and the cost of the down time of the equipment. So there is a need to ensure a functional fluid is changed only when necessary, and not more frequently than needed, in order to save costs.
However, it is also expensive if functional fluids are not changed often enough. Failure to change functional fluids at the appropriate time can lead to increased equipment wear and even damage. Such wear and damage can often result in the need for equipment repairs, which also involve substantial costs in the form of parts, labor and down time. So there is a need to ensure a functional fluid is changed at the appropriate time, before the use of a spent functional fluid results in avoidable damage to a piece of equipment, in order to save costs.
Therefore there is a need for a tool that aides equipment operators in determining an improved and/or optimal change interval for a functional fluid the equipment utilizes.